TAN Annual Meeting Slated for Oct. 18 in Dallas

Nine out of 10 employers surveyed recently say they will require workers to return to the office at least some of the time by the end of 2024. Although 72% of employers say return-to-work orders have resulted in improved revenue, just 19% say they will require employees to work five days a week in the office. That’s according to a survey of 1,000 company decision-makers by ResumeBuilder.com.

Among respondents whose companies have already returned to the office, 31% say they started requiring workers to come back in 2021, 41% in 2022, and 27% in 2023. Most respondents in this group say they have seen an improvement in revenue, productivity, worker retention, and more.

Eighty-three percent of respondents whose companies have returned to the office say they currently track employee attendance, and 70% of respondents whose companies plan to RTO in 2024 say they will also track employee attendance.

Of those currently requiring workers in-office, 71% say at least three-quarters of employees are required to work in-person, and 36% say employees are required to come in five days per week.

However, among respondents whose companies plan to implement RTO in 2024, only 44% say at least three-quarters of employees will be required to work in-person, and just 19% say five days per week will be required.

To encourage employees to return to in-person work, 72% of business leaders say their company will offer commuter benefits, 57% will offer childcare benefits, and 64% will provide catered meals. Additionally, 28% say their company will threaten to fire employees who don’t comply with RTO policy.

More information about the survey is available here.

Tobacco use and smoking has a profound impact on workplace injury management costs, as studies show smokers take longer to recover from injuries and are more inclined to engage in nonprescription opioid use.

Smoking is linked to heart and respiratory diseases and to several cancers. It also has a negative impact on the musculoskeletal system, increasing the risk of injury, poor healing and disease.

The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) has reported that smoking reduces the blood supply to bones, just as it does to many other body tissues. The nicotine in cigarettes slows the production of bone-forming cells (osteoblasts) so that they make less bone. Smoking decreases the absorption of calcium from the diet. Calcium is necessary for bone mineralization, and with less bone mineral, smokers develop fragile bones (osteoporosis).

The AAOS also reports that smoking seems to break down estrogen in the body more quickly. Estrogen is important for building and maintaining a strong skeleton in women and men.

The organization also found that smoking affects the other tissues that make up the musculoskeletal system, increasing the risk of injury and disease. Consider:

• Rotator cuff (shoulder) tears in smokers are nearly twice as large as those in nonsmokers, which is probably related to the quality of these tendons in smokers.
• Smokers are 1.5 times more likely to suffer overuse injuries, such as bursitis or tendonitis, than nonsmokers.
• Smokers are also more likely to suffer traumatic injuries, such as sprains or fractures.
• Smoking is associated with a higher risk of low back pain and rheumatoid arthritis.
• Smoking has a detrimental effect on fracture and wound healing.
• Smokers also have a higher rate of complications after surgery than nonsmokers — such as poor wound healing and infection — and outcomes are less satisfactory. This is related to the decrease in blood supply to the tissues.

U.S. employers expect total health benefit cost per employee to rise 5.4% on average in 2024, even after they make changes to their plans to slow cost growth, according to preliminary results from the National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans 2023 released by Mercer and Marsh McLennan.

Per-employee costs typically increased 3-4% per year during the past decade. Mercer attributes the projected increase in 2024 to ongoing developments in the health care market, such as the consolidation of health systems and the introduction of super-expensive gene and cellular therapies. Additionally, Mercer said there has been a sudden jump in the use of costly drugs used to treat diabetes and obesity.

The projected increase of 5.4% reflects changes that employers plan to make to hold down costs. If they made no changes, respondents indicated that the cost for their largest medical plan would rise by an average of 6.6%.

Mercer said many factors could be helping to temper cost growth — including strategies focused on improving patient outcomes. As employers have moved away from cost-shifting to employees, they have increasingly implemented longer-term cost-management strategies directed at the biggest drivers of cost — complex care and chronic medical conditions.

The survey found that employers will not increase employees’ share of the cost of coverage in 2024. According to organizations that responded to the survey, employees will be required to pick up an average of 22% of total health plan premium costs through paycheck deductions in 2024, unchanged from 2023 and 2022.

The 2023 National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans was launched June 12. The preliminary results are based on responses from more than 1,700 employers that responded through Aug. 14. More than 1,900 employers ultimately participated and final survey results will be released in fall 2023.

More information about the survey is available here.